NI-RFmx 2.2 Measurement Software

National Instruments releases test software for the Draft 1.1 of the IEEE 802.11ax standard

National Instruments (NI) announced the WLAN Test Toolkit 17.0 with support for Draft 1.1 of the IEEE 802.11ax standard. Combined with NI’s second-generation Vector Signal Transceiver (VST), the WLAN Test Toolkit 17.0 supports 802.11ax waveform generation and analysis for characterization, validation and production test of products, such as RF front end components, wireless modules and user devices, that implement Draft 1.1 of the IEEE 802.11ax standard.

The WLAN Test Toolkit 17.0 offers the ability to generate and analyze a range of 802.11ax standard-compliant waveforms, including extended single user, multiuser OFDMA and multiuser multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) with per-user configuration and measurement results.

The toolkit helps users solve demanding new access point test cases by generating signals that simulate multiuser environments, including per-user impairments. Engineers can also use the software to generate trigger frames to test the real-time response of client devices and make power pre-correction and relative center frequency measurements.

With the WLAN Test Toolkit 17.0 and second-generation VST, engineers can configure up to 8×8 MIMO systems in a single PXI chassis. Users can also expect EVM measurements better than -50 dB, for device characterization. Furthermore, they can control their systems with the toolkit’s generation and analysis soft-front panels, and benefit from LabVIEW, C and .NET system design software APIs and example code when programming and automating their systems.

The WLAN Test Toolkit 17.0 expands NI’s product portfolio for testing 802.11a/b/g/j/n/p/ac/ax, Bluetooth, 2G, 3G, 4G, FM/RDS, GNSS and low-power Internet of Things (IoT) wireless standards. NI’s platform-based approach helps ensure that users can update their existing PXI RF test systems to support 802.11ax device testing with a software update, and continue to do so as the 802.11ax standardization process evolves.